Container bottom cutting apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for cutting the bottom disc used in the manufacture of disposable drinking containers. A web of foam plastic container bottom material is fed through a rotary cutting die. Discs of foam plastic material are then sequentially positioned so that they can be affixed to container sidewalls which are moving in seriatim fashion past the cutting apparatus. The direction of movement of the web of foam plastic material through the cutting apparatus is periodically reversed so that the maximum number bottom discs can be cut from the web of material. The method of moving the web of material in an intermittent flow plus the movement of the severed discs is also set forth in detail.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has been well known for quite some time to manufacture disposabledrinking containers from paper products. The sidewall of the papercontainer is cut in an arcuate pattern, then is formed into afrusto-conical shell. A paper bottom is then bonded or mechanicallyattached to the sidewall shell to form a cup that will handle hot orcold beverages. In recent years paper containers such as for examplecups have been supplemented by containers manufactured of plasticmaterial. The well known steam-chested plastic container made ofexpanded plastic beads represents a one piece container that has beenmanufactured in great numbers.

To overcome certain inherent disadvantages of paper containers and onepiece steam-chested plastic containers, the container industry has foundit advantageous to form various sizes of containers of plastic foamsheet material. The switch to containers made of plastic sheet foampermitted exterior decorations to be printed on the foam sheet stock bymeans of high speed printing techniques. It is of course recognized thatthe older steam-chested containers had to be decorated after thecontainers had been formed to their final configuration.

A further advance in the art of container manufacture occurred when itwas discovered that oriented foam plastic material could be used in themanufacture of containers such as cups. When an oriented foam sheetmaterial is utilized it is no longer necessary to cut the containersidewall as an arcuate blank. The blank can be cut in rectangular form,then formed into a cylinder by affixing opposite ends of the rectangularblank one to the other. The cylinder thus formed is subjected to heat,thus causing it to shrink in controlled fashion around a properlycontoured container mandrel.

The bottom of the plastic foam container is cut in the form of a disc.The material for the container bottom disc can be of foam plasticmaterial similar to the sidewall. The bottom discs are attached to thecontainer sidewall by bonding with an adhesive or are heat sealed toform an integral part of the container. The container bottom disc canalso be positioned within the lower edge of a cylindrical cup shell,thus permitting the shell to shrink around the bottom disc. Finalsealing and contouring can be attained by pressing or ironing thecontainer bottom subsequent to attaching the sidewall thereto.

Heretofore it has been common to form container bottoms by punching themout of sheet material, then moving them from the position where severingoccurred to a position where the container bottom is combined with thesidewall of the container.

The just described procedure involved several different movementsgenerally in a horizontal plane. The translation of the container bottomto a position where it could be combined with a container sidewallbecame the limiting factor in increasing the speed of the overallcontainer fabricating machinery. Several approaches such as stacking thepreviously severed container bottoms, then feeding them one by one tothe assembly line did not provide an adequate solution to the problem.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the manufacture and method offabricating portions of a container. More particularly, this inventionrelates to an apparatus for cutting the bottom discs for containers suchas for example disposable cups. The invention also is directed to amethod of feeding a web of material to and through a disc cuttingapparatus.

As commented upon before, the prior art container bottom cutting devicescut the individual discs from a web of material then by means of astarwheel like arrangement translated the container bottoms from thedirection of motion of the web to the line that contained the containershells. The translation of the container bottoms required very accuratealignment and delivery to the container shells.

In the present invention the line of action involving the cutting of thecontainer discs has been made to coincide with the line that containsthe container shells, therefore, there is no lateral translationrequired. Consequently, the apparatus can attain higher productionspeeds and maintain tolerance accuracies more easily than heretofore waspossible. It will become apparent in the ensuing description of theinvention that once the container bottom has been severed from the webof material, it does not move relative to its resting place until it isdelivered to the container mandrel. This method of severing containerbottoms and translating them to their final designation without actuallymoving them from the surface where cutting occurred permits a moreeconomical fabrication of the finished article and at greater linespeeds than in the past.

A web of container bottom material such as foam sheet stock is fed tothe apparatus of the present invention. The container bottoms areblanked out by a rotary die driven in synchronization with a deliverywheel. The container bottoms are delivered to their proper positionwithin the lower portion of the container sidewall shell whereupon theshell is caused to shrink around the container bottom.

The container bottoms are cut by individual dies locatedcircumferentially around a cutting die wheel at spaces equal to thespacing of the container shells on their individual carrier line. Sincethe cutting dies are located at a distance one from another to properlymatch the container shell line, the container blanks are positioned alsoalong the web of material at the same distance as the container shellline. This spacing is considerably greater than the diameter of thecontainer bottom, consequently, less than the optimum number ofcontainer blanks can be cut from the web. In other words if the webmoves at the same speed as the container shell line, there is too muchspace between container bottoms, thus leading to a greater consumptionof web material.

The present invention permits the container bottoms to be cut from a webof material with very little waste regardless of the spacing of theindividual cutters on the cutting die. The web of material advances withthe arcuate surface of the cutting die while actual cutting is beingaccomplished. The direction of movement of the web is then reversed toposition the web so that the next die cut will be closely adjacent tothe previously cut out container bottom. The web reversing andpositioning is adjustable and can be adapted readily to containers ofdifferent sizes and spacing on the assembly line.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved delivery system for container bottoms.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to sever containerbottoms from a web of material where the web is aligned in a verticalplane containing the container sidewall shells to which the containerbottoms are affixed.

Another object of the invention is to deliver a container bottom to anassembly without moving it from the surface area where it was severed.

A further object of this invention is to conserve the blanking spacebetween individual container bottoms, thus permitting a maximum numberof container bottoms to be extracted from a given web of material.

An additional object of the present invention is to increase the speedat which a container manufacturing machine can operate.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of feeding aweb of material to a disc cutting apparatus whereby a maximum number ofblanks can be cut from the web.

Still another object of the present invention is to set forth a methodof first advancing a web of material so that a disc can be cut therefromthen reversing the direction of the web so that the next consecutivedisc is blanked from an area closely adjacent to the area where thepreviously severed disc was blanked.

Another object of this invention is to extract the cut bottom discs froma web of material to reduce the waste to a minimum.

For a further understanding of the present invention and the objectsthereof, attention is directed to the drawings, the followingdescription thereof, the detailed description of the invention and theappended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the interrelationship between thevarious gears associated with the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the delivery wheel shown part in section takengenerally along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the delivery wheel and container shellconveyor line looking in the direction along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the web reversing rollers taken alonglines 4--4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the feed rollers shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view part in section of the web feed rollersalong lines 6--6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a plan view part in section taken along the lines 7--7 of FIG.1 which shows the cutting action of the rotary die.

FIG. 8 is a sectioned view taken along lines 8--8 of FIG. 3 that shows asevered container bottom as positioned when delivered to the lowerportion of a container sidewall shell.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 the base and support sidewalls have been dispensed with inorder to provide a clearer view of the various components and theirinteraction with one another. FIG. 1 is comprised of two parts. Thegeneral cutting apparatus identified broadly by numeral 10 occupies mostof the FIG. 1. At the very top of FIG. 1 the conveyor line carryingcontainer sidewall shells is depicted at 200. The container conveyor 200is a complex apparatus in its own right, however, only a small portionis shown to illustrate the coaction between conveyor 200 and cuttingapparatus 10. The conveyor 200 moves in the direction of arrow 201.

Cutting apparatus 10 is powered with, for example, a high torque motor11. A connecting shaft 12 connects motor 11 with an adjustable rightangle gearbox 13. Gearbox 13 can be adjusted by means of handwheel 14 toeither advance or retard the speed of cutting apparatus 10 with respectto the speed of container conveyor 200. This adjustment is particularlyimportant when starting up or when different types of containers arebeing manufactured. The rotational torque generated by gearbox 13 isdelivered through gear 15 which is attached to shaft 16. Gear 15 mesheswith gear 17, it being understood that the reaction forces of the gearsare taken out by the frame which is not shown for the most part. Gear 17is the beginning of the gear train that delivers power to the variouscomponents of cutting apparatus 10. Gear 17 is positioned on theright-hand end of shaft 18. The left-hand end of shaft 18 contains gear20 which in turn meshes with first idler gear 21. It is understood thatgears such as gear 21 does have a shaft centrally located and properlyjournaled, however, it is purposely not shown in the drawings for thesake of clarity. A second idler gear 22 contacts the first idler gear 21and delivers its rotational torque to main drive gear 23. The main drivegear 23 is affixed to the left-hand end of main shaft 24. A transferwheel 25 is attached near the right-hand end of main shaft 24. Thetransfer wheel is an important feature of the present invention and willbe discussed and described more fully later.

The main drive gear 23 meshes with gear 26 which in turn is immobilizedon the left-hand end of cutter drive shaft 27. The rotary die 28 isattached to the right-hand end of cutter drive shaft 27. Thus, rotarydie 28 is driven in synchronism with transfer wheel 25.

Returning once again to main drive gear 23 it can be observed that gear30 is positioned toward the lower peripheral extent of gear 23. Gear 30can be considered as a secondary drive gear since it has a multipurposefunction. Gear 30 first meshes with gear 31 which in turn is coupled togear 32. Gears 31 and 32 are respectively attached to the ends of driveshafts 33 and 34. A segmented roller 35 is fixed to the right-hand endof drive shaft 33. A coacting segmented roller 36 is placed injuxtaposed relationship to segmented roller 35. Segmented roller 36derives its rotational power by means of drive shaft 34 to which it isfirmly attached. The pair of segmented rollers 35 and 36 perform animportant function which will be discussed more fully infra.

Main drive gear 23, through secondary drive gear 30, supplies power togear 37. Gear 37 interacts with gear 38 which is fixed to the left-handend of drive shaft 40. A small gear 41 is attached toward the right-handend of drive shaft 40. Drive shaft 40 extends through small gear 41 andterminates with feed roller 42 which is affixed to the right-handterminal of drive shaft 40. Small gear 41 meshes with a similar sizedgear 43 which is positioned beneath small gear 41. Gear 43 is coupled toshaft 44 and shaft 44 has feed roller 45 fixed to the right-hand endthereof. Feed rollers 42 and 45 work together in a manner to bedescribed later.

A web of material 46 such as by way of example foam plastic is shown asit enters the cutting apparatus 10. The direction of movement of web 46is shown by arrow 47. Web 46 passes between feed rollers 42 and 45whereupon it comes under the influence of gravity and drops into afestoon. Since the resiliency of web 46 is quite high and its mass isminimal, the festoon is not inclined to have a very sharp curvature atits lowermost extent 48. From the lower extent 48 of the festoon, theweb 46 passes through segmented rollers 35 and 36. Web 46 thenencounters the periphery of transfer wheel 25. The web 46 then proceedsarcuately upward and through the bight formed between transfer wheel 25and rotary die 28. The circular container bottoms 50 are severed fromweb 46 and the scrap portion of web 46 exits from cutting apparatus 10.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 2 which shows more detail associatedwith the overall view of the transfer wheel 25 shown in FIG. 1. Transferwheel 25 is attached to main drive shaft 24 which is journaled in sidesupport frames 51 and 52. Transfer wheel 25 has a hollow interior andthe view shown in FIG. 2 shows that interior from just above the majordiameter downward. The transfer wheel 25 has a planar surface 53situated on the right-hand side thereof. The periphery 54 is acylindrical surface of revolution. The left-hand side of transfer wheel25 has a flange 55. The interior sidewall 56 of flange 55 isfrusto-conical in configuration with the smallest diameter centrallylocated. A wall 57 meets with the small end of frusto-conical sidewall56. Wall 57 is perpendicular to the axis of main drive shaft 24. Acylindrically shaped interior surface 58 joins with the radially inwardextent of wall 57. Interior surface 58 is concentric with peripheralsurface 54 and provides an inside working surface for transfer wheel 25.The interior surface 58 contains a series of radially aligned bores 60.Each one of the bores 60 contains an essentially identical mechanism andhereafter only one such bore 60 and its associated parts will bedescribed. The bore 60 can be seen in the lower portion of FIG. 2. Anejector rod 61 is contained within bore 60. Ejector rod 61 can move in aradial direction within the confinement of bore 60. Ejector rod 61 movesunder the influence of cam follower 62. Cam follower 62 fits into camgroove 63 of stationary cam support 64. Stationary cam support 64 ismounted in fixed relationship to the main frame 65 as shown in FIG. 1.The main drive shaft 24 passes through stationary cam support 64.

In the right-hand of FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown a stationary vacuum manifold66. The vacuum manifold 66 is stabilized by main drive shaft 24 whichpasses therethrough. Vacuum manifold 66 is prevented from rotating bybeing affixed to a cantilevered arm 67. Arm 67 has attached to itsextremity a bifurcated clevis 68. (See FIG. 1.) Clevis 68 terminates atits lower extent with threaded shaft 70. A handwheel 71 is fixed toframe 65. An adjustment supplied through handwheel 71 rotates stationaryvacuum manifold 66 either clockwise or counterclockwise as desired. Thejust described connection also prevents stationary vacuum manifold 66from rotating freely with transfer wheel 25.

The interface 72 between transfer wheel 25 and stationary vacuummanifold 66 is maintained in an airtight manner by the thrust generatedthrough springs 73. Springs 73 are biased between vacuum manifold 66 andbackup plate 74. Since the springs 73 do not provide a satisfactorymethod for delivering of the adjusting torque attained through handwheel71, a pin 75 in the form of a detent fits into a recess in vacuummanifold 66. This arrangement permits an adjusting torque to be appliedto vacuum manifold 66 yet does not interfer with the biasing effectgained through springs 73.

A vacuum line attachment is shown at 76 as depicted at the lower portionof FIG. 2. The vacuum line attachment 76 communicates with the hollowinterior 77 of the vacuum manifold 66. The vacuum cavity within vacuummanifold 66 extends to interface 72 by arcuate grooves 78 and 80positioned in manifold 66. The grooves 78 and 80 can be seen in sectionin FIG. 2. Vacuum supply groove 78 communicates with vacuum port 81which in turn is connected with the interior of ejector rod 61. In asimilar manner vacuum port 82 is in communication with a series of holes83 in the periphery of transfer wheel 25.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which shows several features of theinvention in and around the transfer wheel 25. The container conveyor200 is shown at the uppermost area of FIG. 3. The containers move in thedirection of arrow 201. The containers are positioned in spaced apartrelationship by means of a conveyor (not shown). Transfer wheel 25 isshown immediately beneath conveyor 200. The stationary vacuum manifold66 is shown in front of transfer wheel 25. The arcuate grooves 78 and 80contained within vacuum manifold 66 are shown in dotted lines. Thevacuum ports 81 and 82 contained within transfer wheel 25 are also shownin dotted radially extending lines. It can be observed that a vacuum canbe applied selectively to web 46. Web 46 contacts transfer wheel 25toward the bottom as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 1. Web 46 is immobilizedagainst the peripheral surface of transfer wheel 25 as web 46 movesarcuately toward rotary die 28. The vacuum afforded through ports 82 andarcuate groove 80 is effective only so long as the ports 82 remaincoupled to groove 80. As shown, the web is no longer held to the outsideface of transfer wheel 25 once the container bottom 50 has been severedby rotary die 28. Note there is a circumferential overlap afforded byarcuate grooves 78 and 80. As the foam material is about to be releasedfrom the influence of vacuum supplied by vacuum ports 82, additionalvacuum is centrally supplied to ejector rods 61. This vacuum force isapplied directly to the newly severed container bottom 50. The containerbottom 50 is thus held in position until it is finally delivered to thecontainers aligned along conveyor 200.

FIG. 3 also shows, in dotted lines, the interior surface 58 of transferwheel 25. Cam groove 63 is positioned just radially inward from interiorsurface 58. Cam groove 63 is shown in dotted lines. At the zenith of thecam groove is shown a departure or radially protruding section 84 of camgroove 63. When the cam follower 62 meets the protruding section 84 ofcam groove 63 the cam follower and the ejector rod 61, which is attachedthereto, are thrust radially outward. This outward movement of ejectorrod 61 lifts container bottom 50 away from the surface of transfer wheel25 and toward the bottom of the container sidewall blank carried byconveyor 200. The container bottom is thus attached to the container andmoves away from cutting apparatus 10.

While it is not considered to be a part of the present invention, it isbelieved necessary to describe the conditions under which containerbottoms 50 are taken from apparatus 10. Conveyor 200 contains aplurality of container mandrels spaced equidistant from one another. Themandrels can be equipped with vacuum ports positioned in the bottom tofacilitate the pickup of the container bottoms from the ends of ejectorrods 61. The sidewall shells of te containers can be folded or attachedto the container bottoms. If material such as oriented plastic foammaterial is utilized, heat can be applied to the container shell, thuscausing it to shrink around the bottom of the mandrel and the containerbottom that has been positioned against the mandrel by the apparatus ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the lines 4--4 shown in FIG. 1. Segmentedrollers 35 and 36 are shown along with the bottom of transfer wheel 25.Web 46 enters as shown at the bottom of FIG. 4 and exits at the top leftside. Rollers 35 and 36 share the same peripheral configuration,therefore, the geometry associated with only one roller will bedescribed next. As previously mentioned, segmented roller 35 receivesits rotational torque from gear 31 which moves with a constant angularvelocity. The external contour of roller 35 varies from a maximum radiusat land 85 to a minimum radius at groove 86. There are two raised lands85 on each roller 35 as shown in the drawing. The lands 85 arediametrically positioned and each one has a circumferential extent ofapproximately 90°. Thus, it can be seen roller 35 is roughly dividedinto quadrants with the lands 85 and grooves 86 being alternativelydisposed. Segmented roller 36 shares the same geometry as roller 35; therollers 35 and 36 are oriented such that the lands 85 of each rollermeet and share a common tangent. Likewise, the grooves meet two timeseach revolution. It is of course understood that it is possible to useonly one land 85 per roller and vary the angular velocity and the rollerdiameter to achieve the same result as set forth in the preferredembodiment shown in the drawings.

A stationary guide 87 is positioned adjacent to segmented roller 35. Thework surface 88 of guide 87 is convoluted in the form of a spiral. Theleading edge 90 of work surface 88 receives web 46 as it exits fromsegmented rollers 35 and 36. Web 46 is guided over work surface 88 andis deposited against the periphery of transfer wheel 25. A clamp bar 91is positioned so that it will move against work surface 88 of stationaryguide 87. Clamp bar 91 is positioned on the front end of an adjustablerod 92. The adjustable rod 92 and the movable arm of air cylinder 93 areone and the same. Air cylinder 93 is mounted to the frame 65 in aconventional manner.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the segmented rollers 35 and 36. Web46 can be seen as it traverses rollers 35 and 36 and as it passes overstationary guide 87 and beneath clamp bar 91. A pair of guide bars 94and 95 are fixed to the surface of stationary guide 87. The guide bars94 and 95 prevent web 46 from moving in a lateral direction just priorto its pickup by transfer wheel 25. The guide bars 94 and 95 guarantee asymmetrical delivery of the web 46 to transfer wheel 25. The coaction ofthe clamp bar 91 and the segmented rollers 35 and 36 will be discussedin greater detail later.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view, part in section, showing the arrangementutilized to advance the web 46 from a supply roll (not shown) to thecutting apparatus 10. Feed roller 42 is shown mounted in a positionabove feed roller 45. Web 46 is shown between the feed rollers 42 and45. Drive shaft 40 furnishes rotational power to small gear 41 whichmeshes with gear 43. Thus, feed rollers 42 and 45 are opposite from oneanother in rotation. Web 46 is advanced between feed rollers 42 and 45in a continuous manner since shaft 40 is continually rotating. To haltthe flow of web 46 through feed rollers 42 and 45, a means has beenprovided to separate rollers 42 and 45 so that web 46 will no longer beadvanced. An air cylinder 96 is mounted on frame 65. When pressure isdelivered to air cylinder 96, connecting cylinder arm 97 moves upward,thus also biasing shaft bushing 98 upward. When feed rollers 42 and 45approach each other the frictional force on the surface of web 46 willincrease and web 46 will begin to move through the rollers 42 and 45. Asthe pressure in air cylinder 96 is relaxed, rollers 42 and 45 will moveapart slightly, thus causing web 46 to stop its forward advance. Smallgear 41 and the gear 43 to which it is coupled do not disengage, butcontinue to each rotate. The movement achieved through air cylinder 96is not great enough to disengage the teeth of gears 41 and 43, however,the movement afforded through air cylinder 96 does stop the feeding ofweb 46.

Attention is once again directed to FIG. 1 and the incoming web 46 asshown at the bottom of FIG. 1. Web 46 passes through feed rollers 42 and45 as heretofore described. The web then forms a festoon with a lowerextent 48. A photoelectric sender-receiver combination 102,103 ispositioned near the bottom of the festoon formed by web 46. A similarphotoelectric sender-receiver combination 104,105 is positioned towardthe upper extent of the festoon. The feed rollers 42 and 45 overcome theinertia of the web supply roll (not shown) and deliver web 46 at avelocity greater than the tangential velocity between the transfer wheel25 and rotary die 28. Therefore, it is possible to create a festoon withthe extra length of web 46. When the lower extent of web 46 interruptsthe light beam associated with photoelectric cells 102,103, anelectrical signal is delivered to a solenoid which in turn deactivatesthe supply of air to air cylinder 96. Rollers 42 and 45 then separateand the movement of web 46 into the festoon is stopped. When the storedweb 46 in the festoon diminishes, continuity will be established withinthe photoelectric combination 104,105. This reestablishment of the lightbeam and its receptor generates an electrical signal that once againactivates air cylinder 96. The flow of web 46 into the festoon is thusresumed. While the actual electrical and pneumatic coupling is not shownin detail, it is believed to be well within the capabilities of thoseskilled in the art to understand how the above described systemoperates.

FIG. 7 is a part sectional view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 1. FIG. 7shows the interaction between transfer wheel 25 and rotary die 28. FIG.7 is an enlargement of the smaller view that can be seen in FIG. 2.Rotary die 28 contains two spaced apart cylindrical sections 106 and107. Cylindrical sections 106 and 107 press against the peripheralsurface 54 of transfer wheel 25. The cutting edge 108 has a radialextent complementary to the radial extent of cylinder sections 106 and107. Cylindrical sections 106 and 107 may be brought to bear against theperipheral surface 54 in such a manner that there is no resulting flashattached to the severed disc that forms container bottom 50. Theadjustment utilized to move cylindrical sections 106 and 107 againstsurface 54 of transfer wheel 25 is considered to be of conventionaldesign, hence is not shown. The cutting edge 108 has a geometry thatpermits a circular container bottom 50 to be cut. The edges of web 46are accommodated by an area 110 of reduced radial extent. Likewise, thecentral section confined by arcuate cutting edge 108 is relieved so thatcontainer bottom 50 will not be crushed by the transfer wheel 25 androtary die 28.

FIG. 7 also shows in detail the ejector rod 61. Ejector rod 61 isslidably positioned with a bushing 111 that in turn is fitted into bore60 of transfer wheel 25. Bushing 111 is in two cylindrical lengths withan air space 112 situated therebetween. Air space 112 is in directcommunication with vacuum port 81, thus a reduced air pressure zone canbe created within ejector rod 61. Additional holes 113 permit a vacuumto be applied at a plurality of locations on the surface of containerbottom 50.

Ejector rod 61 moves under the influence of cam follower 62. Camfollower 62 is cantilevered from slide block 114 which is attached toejector rod 61. Slide block 114 moves radially inward and outward alongan enlarged portion 115 of bore 60. A compression spring 116 ispositioned with bore 117. Spring 117 serves as a safety feature should aforeign object be encountered by ejector rod 61 when in an extendedposition. Thus, through the discussion supra it can be understood howtransfer wheel 25 carries severed container bottoms 50 to containerconveyor 200.

FIG. 8 is a part sectional view taken along the lines 8--8 of FIG. 3.This view is quite similar to the view afforded in FIG. 7 except thatthe ejector rod 61 is in its fully extended position. The ejector rod 61reaches its extended position when it arrives at the top of transferwheel 25. Container bottom 50 is held to the end of ejector rod 61 bythe vacuum supplied through holes 113. As container bottom 50 moves intofinal position, the vacuum supply is cut off as vacuum port 81 becomesdisconnected with arcuate groove 80 in stationary vacuum manifold 66.The container bottom 50 is positioned in the proper position where itcan be adhered to the bottom of container shell 118. The bottom 50 canbe positioned and incorporated into a completed container in a varietyof ways, some of which have been commented upon briefly, that areconsidered to be outside the scope of the present invention.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 where the segmented rollers 35and 36 are shown. FIG. 4 in particular shows web 46 as it exits thefestoon arrangement previously described. Rollers 35 and 36 receivetheir rotational power from gears 31 and 32 as previously set forth andshown in FIG. 1. Since the power connection is not intermittent, rollers35 and 36 rotate with a constant angular velocity. Gear 32 receives itspower from gear 31, consequently, its rotation is opposite to gear 31.As segmented rollers 35 and 36 rotate, they intermittently make contactwith both sides of web 46. The direction of rotation is such that web 46is reversed in its travel toward transfer wheel 25 arrows 120 and 121,FIG. 4, depict the direction of rotation of rollers 35 and 36. Whengrooves 86 of rollers 35 and 36 are immediately opposed, web 46 can beadvanced through rotory die 28 and transfer wheel 25. When lands 85 ofrollers 35 and 36 are opposed, web 46 is reversed in direction and onceagain adds to the web stored in the festoon. The frictional contactproduced by lands 85 contacting the surface of web 46 is great enough toovercome the force of the vacuum which has been applied to web 46 as itmoves around the circumference of transfer wheel 25. Consequently, web46 slides in a reverse direction along the surface of transfer wheel 25.Since there are two sets of lands of segmented rollers 35 and 36, therewill be two occurrences each revolution of rollers 35, 36 when thedirection of web 46 is actually reversed.

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, it can be observed that containerbottoms 50 are arcuately spaced at a distance equal to the linearspacing of the container shells arrayed on container conveyor 200. Ifweb 46 was fed directly through rotary die 28 with no retardation orreverse flow or web 46, the rotary die would cut a container bottom outof web 46 with a spacing equal to the spacing of the containers onconveyor 200. This procedure would create widely spaced apart holes inweb 46, thus causing a less than optimum utilization of the materialcontained in web 46. Segmented rollers 35 and 36 are so synchronizedwith the rotary die 28 to cause a reverse flow of web 46 just after ablanking operation has been performed. Web 46 is repositioned withrespect to the cutting edge 108 of rotary die 28 so that the nextcontainer bottom 50 is removed from web 46 quite close to the previouslyremoved container bottom 50. Through the reversing of web 46 it ispossible to utilize all of web 46 and blank out container bottoms with aminimum of leftover material. FIG. 1 shows web 46 as it exits frombetween transfer wheel 25 and rotary die 28; note the closely spacedblanks 122. In contrast, container bottoms 50 are spaced quite somedistance from one another as they progress around the arcuate path oftransfer wheel 25.

Attention is once again directed to FIG. 5 and the clamp bar arrangementbriefly commented upon before. From time to time it is desirable to stopthe delivery of container bottoms 50 to conveyor line 200 withoutactually stopping the entire apparatus 10. Consequently, it is possibleto stop the movement of web 46 to rotary die 28. The movement of web 46is stopped by causing actuator 128 (FIG. 4) to contract arm 130. Arm 130is connected to the support of segmented roller 36 and can cause it tomove slightly away from adjacent coacting segmented roller 35. Whensegmented roller 36 has moved away from roller 35, the web 46 is nolonger affected by the rollers. The clamping action afforded by clampbar 91 immobilizes web 46 against stationary guide 87. The clampingaction of clamp bar 91 is great enough to overcome the vacuum causedforce applied to web 46 by transfer wheel 25, consequently, web 46slides with respect to transfer wheel 25 which continues to rotate.

FIG. 1 also shows an alignment device 123 in the upper right-hand partof the drawing. The alignment device moves in oscillatory fashion underthe influence of rod 124 and crank 125. Crank 125 is attached to driveshaft 126 and shaft 26 is fixed to gear 127. Gear 127 is driven by maindrive gear 23 as shown in the drawing. Alignment device 123 can performfunctions such as centering containers on conveyor 200 and the devicecan also assure that container bottom is securely affixed to thecontainer shell.

The present invention does provide a method of feeding a web of materialto a cutting device so that a maximum number of cut articles can beremoved from the web. In the ordinary web feed device, the web iscontinually advanced so that each cut will be quite close to thepreviously made cut. The advancing direction of the web may be ofintermittent nature, however, it does not reverse itself. The web feedmechanism of the present invention causes the web to advance, a cut ismade, then the web is reversed in direction so that the next cut occursadjacent the previous cut with a minimum of material existing betweencuts.

As has been set forth in conjunction with the description of theapparatus of the present invention, a festoon arrangement is providedfor storing web material just prior to articles being cut therefrom. Thefestoon arrangement permits the web to be fed without incurring thelarge and variable inertia load caused by the mass of the feed rollitself. The festoon size since web material is always being fed into itfrom the feed roll side and material is intermittently fed into thefestoon from the side adjacent the cutting die. Thus, at certain timesthe festoon is increasing in size because material is being fed into itfrom both sides.

With the preceding detailed description and discussion of the invention,it can be readily ascertained just how the rotary concept of theinvention can be used to attain greater production speeds on a containermanufacturing line.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for severing and transferring acontainer bottom comprising motor means coupled to a gear train, atransfer wheel coupled to said gear train, rotary die means positionedtangentially adjacent to said transfer wheel, means for feeding a web ofmaterial between said transfer wheel and said rotary die means, web feedmeans driven by said gear train and means coupled to said gear train forreversing the direction of movement of said web with respect to saidtransfer wheel.
 2. An apparatus for severing a container bottom from acontinuous web of material and transferring said bottom to a mandrelcomprising motor means attached to a gear train, a transfer wheelpowered by said gear train, rotary die means positioned in contact withsaid transfer wheel and powered by said gear train, means coupled tosaid transfer wheel for advancing a web of material along the peripheryof said wheel, means positioned adjacent to said transfer wheel forperiodically reversing the direction of movement of said web withrespect to the direction of movement of the peripheral surface of saidtransfer wheel.
 3. An apparatus for severing a container bottom from amoving web of material comprising motor means coupled to a gear trainwith gear reduction means interdisposed therebetween, a transfer wheelpowered by one of the gears in said gear train, rotary die meanspositioned adjacent to and coacting with said transfer means for feedinga web of material between said rotary die means and said transfer wheel,means coupled to said transfer wheel for advancing said web of materialpast said rotary die means and means driven in synchronism with saidtransfer wheel for periodically reversing the direction of movement ofsaid web with respect to the direction of movement of said transferwheel.
 4. A container bottom transfer apparatus comprising a transferwheel positioned with its rotational axis in horizontal alignment, arotary die with cutting means thereon positioned adjacent to andcontacting said transfer wheel, means coupled with said transfer wheelto retain a web of material against the peripheral surface of saidwheel, means for retaining individual container bottoms against theperipheral surface of said wheel after they have been severed from saidweb, means for moving the severed container bottoms in a radialdirection from the peripheral surface of said transfer wheel to thebottom of a nearby container mandrel.
 5. A container bottom transferapparatus comprising a transfer wheel positioned with its rotationalaxis in horizontal alignment, a rotary die with a plurality of arcuatelydisposed cutting surfaces thereon, said cutting surfaces coacting withthe periphery of said transfer wheel, means for adhering a web ofmaterial to the peripheral surface of said transfer wheel so that saidweb is immobilized with respect to said surface yet moves in an arcuatepath along with said surface, means for retaining individual containerbottoms in spaced relationship one with another as they are translatedby said transfer wheel, means for moving said container bottom in aradial direction away from said transfer wheel rotational axis andtoward the bottom of a nearby container mandrel.
 6. A container bottomtransfer and severing apparatus including a transfer wheel with itsrotational axis horizontally aligned, drive means coupled to saidtransfer wheel to provide rotation, a rotary die with a plurality ofarcuately disposed circumferentially spaced cutting surfaces thereon,said cutting surfaces coacting with the cylindrical periphery of saidtransfer wheel, said rotary die powered by drive means common to saidtransfer wheel, web advancing means positioned adjacent said transferwheel for moving a web of material toward said wheel and web reversingmeans interdisposed between said web advancing means and said wheel forintermittently reversing the direction of movement of said web.
 7. Acontainer bottom transfer and severing apparatus as claimed in claim 6wherein the web reversing means comprises a pair of coating rollers,each roller having at least one peripheral surface area of greaterradial extent than the peripherally adjacent areas.
 8. A containerbottom transfer and severing apparatus as claimed in claim 7 whereineach of said rollers has a plurality of cylindrically shapedcircumferentially extending lands of greater radial extent than thegrooves positioned between said lands, the rollers being so orientedthat the lands of each respective roller coincide with one another tograsp said web and reverse its direction of movement.
 9. A containerbottom transfer and severing apparatus comprising a drive motor coupledto a gear train having a main drive gear and a plurality of secondarydrive gears, a transfer wheel attached to said main drive gear by anelongate shaft, said shaft disposed in a horizontal attitude, a rotarycutting die driven by one of said secondary gears, said die mounted forrotation on a shaft paralleling the shaft supporting said transferwheel, some of the peripheral surfaces of said die continuallycontacting a portion of the periphery of said transfer wheel, web andcontainer bottom holding means positioned around the periphery of saidtransfer wheel, a plurality of radially aligned circumferentially spacedcontainer bottom ejector rods slidably positioned within said transferwheel, a plurality of web feed rollers deriving rotational power fromsaid main drive gear, the axis of at least one of said web feed rollersbeing translatable to move the arcuately rotating surfaces of said webfeed rollers toward and away from one another so that a web of materialcan be moved toward said transfer wheel, a pair of web reversing rollerspositioned between said web feed rollers and said transfer wheel, saidweb reversing rollers each powered by shaft and gear means coupled withsaid main drive gear, said web reversing rollers each havingdiametrically opposed circumferentially extending lands of a greaterradial extent than the grooves positioned between said lands, therollers being so oriented that the lands of each respective rollercoincide with one another to grasp said web and reverse its direction ofmovement, said web reversing rollers being driven in synchronism frompower derived from said main drive gear.
 10. A container bottom transferand severing apparatus comprising a drive motor coupled to a gear trainwith a gear reduction box interpositioned therebetween, said gear havinga main gear train and a plurality of secondary drive gears coupledtherewith, said main gear coupled to a transfer wheel and one of saidsecondary gears coupled to a rotary die, said gears being connected tosaid transfer wheel and rotary die by means of horizontally alignedshafts such that the rotation of the transfer wheel is counter therotation the rotary die, some of the peripheral surfaces of said diecontinually contacting a portion of the periphery of said transferwheel, apertures placed at a plurality of locations in the periphery ofthe transfer wheel so that a vacuum can be maintained against a web ofmaterial positioned on said wheel, a plurality of radially alignedcircumferentially spaced container bottom ejector rods slidablypositioned within said wheel, said ejector rods activated by stationarycam means so that container bottoms can be selectively moved in a radialdirection by the ejector rod to a position adjacent a container mandrel,a plurality of web feed rollers coupled by a drive shaft to one of saidsecondary drive gears, said web feed rollers operable in an intermittentmanner to pull web material from a web supply roll and deposit said webin a festoon, means to control the amount of web material in saidfestoon, a pair of web reversing rollers positioned at the exiting endof said festoon and adjacent to said transfer wheel, said web reversingrollers powered by counterrotating drive shafts coupled to one of saidsecondary drive gears, said web reversing rollers each having twodiametrically opposed circumferentially extending lands cylindrical inconfiguration and of greater radial extent than the adjacentlypositioned cylindrically shaped grooves, the rollers being so orientedthat the lands of each respective roller coincide with one another tograsp said web, overcome the force of the vacuum afforded by thetransfer wheel, and reverse the web direction so that the web slidesalong the surface of the transfer wheel and joins the web stored in saidfestoon.
 11. A container bottom transfer and severing apparatus asclaimed in claim 10 including a reciprocating container bottom press forcontacting the container bottoms subsequent to discharge from saiddelivery wheel, said press deriving power from said main gear.
 12. Acontainer bottom transfer and severing apparatus as claimed in claim 10including a guide and movable bar for stopping the flow of said webwithout stopping the rotation of said transfer wheel.
 13. A containerbottom transfer and severing apparatus as claimed in claim 10 includingmanifold means for adjusting the time a vacuum is applied to saidtransfer wheel.
 14. The method of cutting and translating containerbottoms including the steps of;(a) feeding a continuous web of containerbottom material to a transfer wheel, (b) advancing said web along withsaid wheel as it rotates, (c) subjecting said web to the action of arotary die that coacts with said transfer wheel, (d) severing containerbottoms from said web by means of a cutting edge positioned on said die,(e) translating said container bottoms in spaced apart array along theperipheral surface of said transfer wheel, (f) moving the containerbottoms in a radial direction away from the surface of said wheel whilesaid container bottoms are being rotated with said wheel, (g) depositingeach of said container bottoms against a mandrel bottom so that thecontainer bottom can be incorporated into a finished article.
 15. Themethod of cutting and translating container bottoms including the stepsof;(a) removing a web of material from a material source roll, (b)feeding a continuous web of container bottom material to a transferwheel, (c) immobilizing said web against the peripheral surface of saidwheel, (d) advancing the web along with said wheel as it rotates withconstant angular velocity, (e) subjecting said web to the action of arotary die that coacts with said wheel, (f) severing container bottomsfrom said web by means of cutting edges positioned on said die, (g)translating said container bottoms in from a lower elevation to a higherelevation while being spaced apart along the peripheral surface of saidtransfer wheel, (h) moving each the container bottoms in a radialdirection away from the surface of said wheel while said containerbottoms are being rotated with said wheel, (i) depositing each of saidcontainer bottoms against a mandrel so that each of the containerbottoms can be incorporated into a finished article.
 16. The method ofcutting and translating a container bottom including the steps of;(a)feeding a web of material to the combination of a rotary die and acoacting transfer wheel, (b) cutting a first container bottom from theweb of material and permitting the container bottom to remain in contactwith the transfer wheel, (c) reversing the direction of movement of theweb by sliding it along the periphery of the transfer wheel, (d) cuttinga second container bottom from said web after it has been reversed indirection so that said second bottom is cut from a portion of the webclosely adjacent to that area of the web from which said first bottomwas removed whereby the spacing of the cut bottoms along the peripheryof the transfer wheel is greater than the spacing of the holes in theweb from which the container bottoms were severed.
 17. The method ofcutting and translating a container bottom including the steps of;(a)removing a web of container bottom material from a source roll bypulling it therefrom with power driven feed rollers, (b) storing a loopof container bottom web feed material in a festoon of varying arcuateextent, (c) feeding said web to the lower extent of a transfer wheel,(d) immobilizing said web against the peripheral surface of saidtransfer wheel by vacuum means, (e) advancing said web along with saidwheel as it rotates with constant angular velocity. (f) subjecting saidweb to the action of a rotary die that coacts with said wheel,(g)severing a first container bottom from said web by means of cuttingedges positioned on the peripheral surface of said die and securing thecontainer bottom to the outside surface of the transfer wheel by vacuummeans, (h) reversing the direction of movement of said web by sliding italong the surface of the transfer wheel, (i) severing a second containerbottom from said web after the reversing of the web direction hasstopped, (j) positioning the second container bottom on the periphery ofthe transfer wheel so that center to center spacing of said first andsecond container bottoms greatly exceeds the center to center spacing ofthe holes in the web from which the container bottoms were severed, (k)storing a plurality of cut container bottoms along the periphery of thetransfer wheel, (l) translating said container bottoms in curvilinearfashion from a lower elevation to a higher elevation, (m) simultaneouslymoving each container bottom in a circular and radial extent, (n)depositing each container bottom against a mandrel as the mandrels arecarried at a uniform velocity and in spaced apart array tangentiallypast said transfer wheel whereby the container bottoms can beincorporated into a completed container.